Apparatus for conditioning air



Aug. 19, 12941. c. H. ROBERTS APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING AIR Filed Feb. l. 1939 INVENTOR. Chor/es. /71 06023",

Patented Aug. 19, 1941 2,252,982 APPARATUS Fon CONDITIONING Ara Charles H. Roberts, Burbank, Calif., assigner, by

direct and mesne assignments, of one-third to Edward D. Feldman, Glendale, Calif., one-third ,'to Alan C. Stoneman, Los Angeles, Calif., and

one-third to Calif.

Harry vW. Greenberg, Glendale,

Application February 1, 1939, Serial No. 254,017

(ci. iss-21) i 4 Claims.

My invention relates generally to the conditioning of air. and more particularly to the cooling of air by evaporative means.-

In the past. it has been customary in cooling the air in homes, small offices, etc., by evaporative means, to employ` porous pads, usually made of excelsior, or the like, as a means of permitting the entrant air to come into intimate contact with water and to be cooled by the evaporation thereof. While these coolers have reduced the temperature of the air, they have done so at the expense of the absolute humidity of the air, as

measured by its wet-bulb temperature; and as a result, the air so cooled has become oppressively moist. In addition, the moist pads have furnished an excellent breeding place for bacteria and other micro-organisms; and after the pads have been in use for a time, they `often develop a very unpleasant odor.

It is an object of my invention to provide an apparatus for. cooling air by the evaporation of water without appreciably, if at all, raising the wet-bulb! temperature of the conditioned air.y

It is another object `of my invention to do this so efficiently that veryv little water is required for the proper and successful operation of my method and apparatus.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a cooler which may be made entirely of metal, and may therefore be easily cleaned, thus eliminating the chance for unpleasant odors, such as are associated with the present rative coolers.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a cooler that is quiet in operation, simple" in de sign. and economical to manufacture.

These and other objects of my invention wi become apparent from the following description of a preferred and a modified form of my invention, and from the drawingillustrating those forms, in which: l

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken u along the axis of the cooler as shown at I--I in Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation showing the discharge end of the cooler,

Fig. 3 ls a cross-sectional view taken at 3-3 in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the numeral III indicates a housing made of sheet metal or other suitable ,Y material, preferably made cylindrical in shape.'

One end of the housing I is restricted to form a ,discharge duct 20, and within this discharge duct, I prefer to mount a fan Il driven by a motor I2. The motor I2 and f an I3 are held by a support I5 mounted within the duct 2D and designed to create a minimum of friction or turbulence in air passing around it. A similar support I5a, at the opposite or intake end of the pad-type evapohousing I0, carries a bearing I I which supports one end ofa shaft II. This shaft II is the same shaft onv which the mtor I 2 and the fan I3 are mounted, and the .bearings of the motor support the other end of the shaft, near the discharge' end of the housing I0. The shaft Il is hollow for a portion of itslength. extending from the bearing I4, and means are provided for forcing water through the bearing and into the shaft. Mounted alongthe hollow portion of the shaft II are a'series of discs IB, Ita, and IBb which I term centrifuges and which are attached to the shaft so that they rotate with it. WhileI have shown thesecentrifu'ges IB, Ita. and Itb as segments of a sphere, they may be made in the form of cones. truncated cones, orany other convenient shape, so long as a`conca've surface is provided. `On the concave side of each of the discs I8, Ia, and I6b. adjacent the point of attachment of` the disc tothe shaft I I, a plurality of perforations I1, Ila. and'llb are provided in the shaft. so that jets of water will flow out `from the shaft, impinge upon the disc,v where they will be carried by centrifugal force to the edge o1 the disc and there thrown of! substantially as a sheet. The spray thus produced should pref-l erably be paper-thin, and to assist in achieving this, the edges of the discs I8, Ita. and ib are finished to a knife edge. Since the size ofthe perforations I1, Ila, `and AIIb does not determine the thickness of the spray, they may ,be made large enough to prevent their clogging up Jwhen used with water `containing a large amount of dissolved or nely divided solids. While I have shownV three discs or centrifuges I6, I8a, and IBI mounted on the shaft AI I, fit is to be understood` that the number may be varied. One disc andl its associated spray will produce a certain amount of cooling and washing, and each additional disc will'provide more; but a point is soon I reached where the addition of more discs is not justified. l

' Between the disc Ib and the discharge duct 20, I have provided rotating screens I8, Isa, and Ilb, covering the entire area of the outlet duct,

and preferably projecting beyond it, and smaller rotating 'screens I9 and I8a covering the central area of the duct. The screens Il, Ida, lab, Ii, and Isa. which I term moisture eliminators, are mounted on the shaft II so that vthey rotate with it. and their action is to intercept the ow of air passing through the apparatus, collect the moisture entrained in that air, and remove it from the path of the air by means of centrifugal force. Since the peripheral speed of the smaller screens I8 and Ia will lbe much lower than that of the larger screens Il, Ita, and Idb, the smaller screens are made of a finer mesh screening than the larger ones, so that both sets will intercept the flow of air at approximately equal rates.

the Shaft Il.

While I have shown separate screens of different mesh because they are readily available. it

will be evident that aA spider-web type of screen may be used in which the openings are small at` the center and graduate to larger openings at the outside. If this is done, the number of moisture `eliminators may be reduced.

' When the water is thrown outwardly by the eliminators |8,'|8a, |8b, I9, and |9a, a certain amount of air is thrown with it; and to provide a passageway for this air, a i'lne screen cylinder 2i is disposed within the housing I0 concentric with the shaft and held in place by supports 22 and 23, which I prefer to make in the' form of longitudinal channels, so that .air may pass between them with a minimum friction and turbulence. The screen `cylinder 2| extends from a point adjacent the eliminators I8, IBa, Ib, i9, and |9a to a point adjacent the entrance end of the housing I0. Between the intake end of the screen cylinder and the intake end of the housing I0, I have provided a baille 24 which I prefer to make in the form of a metal lplate with :a circular opening in it approximately lthesame size to a truly cylindrical surface, but mean to include all usable variations thereof, such as polygonal surface tubes and the like. f

In the bottom of the housing i0, I have provided, a tank26 of sufficient capacity to` hold enough water to operate the device forA an ex- A pump 28, driven by a tended period of time. motor 2'|, forces water from the tank 26 through a valve 29 and thence through piping 30 to the bearing I4, where it enters the hollow portion of Ihel pump 28 and motor 21 may be formed as a single unit or maybe'separate, but I prefer to have the pump and fan driven by different motors, and controlled 4by separate switches.. The valve 29 may be of any convenlent type'adapted to regulate the flowy of water to the centrifuges I6, Ilia, and IBb.

While the fan I3 may be mounte at either the intake or discharge end of the app ratus, II prefer to mount it at the discharge end and provide a frustro-conical deflector 3| disposed concentrically with the-discharge duct 20 at its exit end.

The deflector 3| is displaced along the axis of the housing I0, so that the air being discharged is forced out around it. The center of the cone is closed'by a Plate having a series of variable openings 32 in it which may be adjusted to permit air to lbe drawn through the center of the deflector vinto the air stream and thereby discharged 4pinge upon the screen cylinder 2| and vpass on' through it to hit the housing I U, and then drain back into the tank 26. The air next passes through the spray eliminators I8,V I8'a, IIb, |9.

and [8a where the water added by the spray is removed by centrifugal force. In removing the V water, a portion of the air'which would normally pass on through the apparatus is thrown radially toward the outside of the housing, along with the water, and this air, having been cooled and washed, is passed back or recirculated around the screen cylinder 2| where it aids in cooling the Aincoming air. This cooling by the recirculated air is effected to a small degree by conduction and radiation, but mainly by the mixing and intermingling of the cooler, recirculated air with the warmer entering air as the recirculated air passes through the'screen cylinder2| into the y path of the entering air. Any of the recirculated air which has not passed through the screen cylinder 2| is deflected by the baille 24 at the intake end of the cylinder and there mixes with the entering air. 1 have found that a minimum of about 20% of the air passing through the cylin- 'der 2| should be recirculated in this manner for apparatus is placed in a room, a person standing directly in front of it will not have a direct stream of air flowing uponhim.

By opening the apertures 32, air may be drawn from the room into the outlet end of the apparatus, and discharged with the conditioned air;

in this way, constant circulation of air in the valve 29 may be turned to its closedV position, andV the air will be forced through the apparatus without passing through any sprays.

The water thrown out by lthenioisture eliminators I8, |8a, lsb, I9, and ISa drains back intoy the tank 26, and is recirculated by the pump 21, while the screen 25 prevents any of the spray in the cylinder from being blown back out of the machine. By these means, nearly all of the wa-V ter used in the apparatus is conserved, and a very small amount of water is necessary for the proper and successful operation of the apparatus. The temperature of the water placed in the tank 26 may be higher than that of the entering air;

' but immediately upon starting the apparatus, the

water is cooled until it reaches the wet-bulb temperature of the air.

By way of example only, the following data are given as an indication of thel performance that may be expected'from one particular size unit of my invention:

Inner diameter of outer shell vIl|... inches 24 While I have shown anddescribed a preferred and' a modied form of my invention, it will b;

'apparent that minor deviations may be made from these descriptions and drawing without in any way departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device for washing and cooling air which includes: a housing; a screen cylinder within said housing and concentric and forming an annular passage therewith adapted to allow recirculation of a portion of said treated air; means for inducing ailow of air through said screen cylinder; a rotating disc upon which jets of water play to produce a water spray at a substantial angle to the axisoi said cylinder;` a rotating screen adjacent lthe discharge opening of said housing and through which said aixl must pass; a peripheral baille approximately perpendicular to the ow of said air, located between said screen cylinder and the entrant end of said housing, and extending from said housing to a point substantially in line with said screen cylinder; a tank; means for conducting water from said tank to said rotatingdisc; and means for controlling the amount of water conducted to said rotating disc.

2. A device as described in claim 1 in which said means for inducing a ow of air is a fan mounted at the outlet end of said device, and said device is provided with a deector in the form of a hollow truncated cone provided with variable apertures at its center.

3. A device tor washing and cooling air which includes: a housing; a cylinder within said housingl and forming an `annular passage therewith 'adapted to allow recirculation of a portion of the treated air; means for inducing a ilow of air through said cylinder; a rotating disc upon which jets of water play to produce a water spray at a substantialangle to the axis of said cylinder; a.

land the entrant end of said housing and extending radially inwardly in said housing; a tank; and

means for conducting water from said tank to said rotating disc.

.'4. A device for washing and cooling air which includes: a housing; a screen cylinder within said housing and forming an annular passage therewith adaptedV to allow recirculation o! a portion of the treated air; means for inducing a iiow of air through said cylinder; means :for producing a water spray at a substantial angle to the axis o! said cylinder; a rotating screen adjacent the discharge opening ot said housing and through which air must pass; a peripheral baille located between said cylinder and the entrant end of said housing and extending radially inwardly 

